Life has too many decisions, Just Go.

I wasn’t the most adventurous person throughout my pretty average upbringing, although an abnormal level of anxieties ensured that I never strayed too far from the beaten path. In school they told me how to dress, they taught me right from wrong and outlined what my career should be, but this only served to confuse me later in life when it came to making decisions. For all the variety of modern day life, the endless choice and never-ending options, I can’t help but think that life has too many decisions, and sometimes you need to just go.

The overwhelming rise of mass decisions

You see, as adults we suddenly find there is nobody there to make the decisions like there was at school or at home. Furthermore, there are now far too many to make on a daily basis and as we gather even more possessions and more responsibilities, the numbers of these decisions grow. What colour shoes to wear, cappuccino, frappuccino, green tea or herbal for breakfast, lunch in or eat out, take the train, walk or wait on the bus? The end result; whether we are trying to decide on what to eat, what to wear or which way to travel. The modern world is now infused with a mass number of possessions and decisions which bring nothing but stress to our lives.

And herein lies the problem, the mass number of decisions leads to procrastination or self doubt and essentially, in-action as rather than feeling inspired by the options and opportunities at our feet, we feel overwhelmed and mostly resolve to make no decisions at all.

Waiting around vs. Taking action

As someone who battled acute anxieties his whole life and suffered a general fear of travelling to new places or seeking new experiences, I can tell you that facing these fears is the only true means by which they will ever go away. It took more than 4 years of travelling the world to properly understand these concerns and realize the best way to alleviate them, but ironically, this ”way” was as simple as they come. Yes, having researched all the important parts such as how to hire a campervan in Sydney or what to pack for a ski season, I came to understand that the best way to start the adventure and begin facing up to my personal demons, was to just go.

I could have waited until more money found its way into my bank account, I could have waited for a friend to hold my hand, I could have waited for a time that better suited my career or a moment when I felt ready, but then none of this seemed to make sense anymore when I could, just go.

It was terrifying, to walk out that door, to go to the airport alone and board a plane for some place I had never been. It was scary to think of all the things that could go wrong and even more horrifying to contemplate a worst case scenario, but none of them would ever happen. No, I would spend the following 8 years travelling around the world without any sign of the concerns or things that worried me in the beginning and incredibly, I would become a travel writer in the process.

I am not old or wise just yet, but as someone who knows from experience, I can tell you that travel is the most incredible experience and an opportunity to change everything you thought you knew about the world. However, it only happens if you can block out the mass number of decisions and then realize that there are really only two simple words which will help you on your way. So be brave, look forward and just go.

Uncharted Traveller

See the bald ginger head on the left? That would be mine. I’m Derek. I started travel writing many years ago but got caught up along the way, working for the man in the real world. However, I grew tired of staying in the one place all the time and decided to leave conventional living behind for good. Since then, I have been travelling the world with absolutely no plan, other than to go any place that looks interesting. It may sound simple, but that’s because it is, when you want it to be.

Just south of the Arctic circle lies a magical island - the land of fire and ice, the ever mesmerizing Iceland. Iceland in winter is a very different place to Iceland in summer. Sub-zero temperatures, bone-chilling winds and harsh conditions are prevalent, but the photographic rewards are accordingly immense.